Three companies that had been shortlisting for bidding to develop a new waste incinerator plant dropped out for reasons that were “extraneous to the project”, Wasteserv told Times of Malta.

The agency was contacted after Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia said in Parliament on Tuesday that these companies had been forced out of the process because of company acquisitions and takeovers.

Tender bidding rules disqualify companies going through mergers and takeovers. 

A spokesperson for Wasteserv told Times of Malta that the first drop out occurred in the early weeks of the process, the second drop out a few months before the final submission, and the third just days before the deadline, all due to consortium partners or lead technology providers mergers or shareholding takeovers. 

The spokesperson said an alternative tender procedure is already under way.

"The project is rock solid and the fresh procedure is expected to attract the strongest players in the sector," the spokesperson said. 

A computer-generated image of what the project would look like.

Malta's mountain of waste

The proposed €160 million incinerator plant is set to be built near the Magħtab landfill and will process 40% of all of Malta’s waste. It comes with a financial outlay of €200 million for commissioning and operation over a 20-year period.

The Planning Authority gave the project the thumbs-up last month. 

When the project was first announced in 2019, the government estimated that the incinerator will begin burning Malta’s waste by next year. 

The project is deemed essential if the island is to meet its EU-imposed waste management targets for 2023. 

Wasteserv said the tender to build a new so-called waste-to-energy plant will have to be reissued.

The incinerator project is part of a holistic strategy that is being implemented at Magħtab, which has been dubbed the ECOHIVE Complex.

The complex will include a new recycling facility and a new organic processing plant.

Malta is seriously lagging behind on its targets, with only a fraction of its waste currently recycled – significantly short of the 60% target the island is meant to reach. 

According to a new government waste management strategy, Malta will dump 40% more waste in landfills by 2030 if nothing is done to tackle the ever-increasing flow of domestic rubbish.

In nine years’ time, the giant heap of black bags – equivalent to an extra two bags for every five currently being landfilled – would require vast stretches of land to be turned into new dumping grounds.